ROCK-A-DOODLE

ROCK-A-DOODLE REVIEWED

“Rock-A-Doodle” used to be the envy of the Red Giraffe Video set. I was too cool for kid movies at that point, so I was trying to grab the last copy of Freddy’s Dead. Years later, I came back to the lesser Bluth films as a means of approaching the man’s grand work. It was easier than Dragon’s Lair, but it also left me scratching my head. The basic premise of a rooster being targeted by an evil owl feels like classic Bluth. But, the last half hour doesn’t do it.

Don Bluth films feel like the honest inheritor of the Disney label. Everything Pixar does now feels like a response to DreamWorks in the way that WB and MGM animation used to slug it out in the Golden Age. So, I guess that’s why animators like Bluth, Bakshi and the old masters are getting squeezed out. Hand-drawn animation is expensive and none of the old guys are showing that they are too adept at CG animation.

Honestly, it feels like an entire generation of kids are getting cheated out of complete stories being marketed to them. While not every Bluth film was great, it treated kids like they were smart. Nostalgia will make many people pick this one up.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Nothing

A/V STATS

1.85:1 1080p transfer

DTS-HD 2.0 master audio track

RELEASE DATE: 10/31/17

Video - 93%

93%

Audio - 93%

93%

Film Score - 86%

86%

The Plot Thus Far

In order to defeat the Grand Duke of Owls, a young boy transformed into a cat teams up with a group of barnyard animals to find a rooster who can raise the sun.